Method of treating oils to remove suspended impurities



Patented Oct. 20, 1931 AT OFFICE HENRY H. MORETON, E sANTnavroNIcA,CALIFORNIA ASSIGNOR 0E oitn-rninn To 0. B. ENGLISCH, 0E cHxoAeaanmnoxs,Ann onn 'rnmn TO CHARLES F. cream, or

Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA" V No Drawing.

' This invention is a method of treating oils,

to remove the impurities therefrom.

[3} from the mechanically suspended solid im cium sulphate. The quantityof calcium sule! v Attempts have heretofore been made to reclaim usedoilssuch as by removing therepurities whichhave beenjpickedup whileinuse, but as far as isknown no method has been heretofore devised forremoving the fin'e 'carbon particles, except by distillation; In fact,it is impossible to filter there particles from the oil by any knownmethod prior to the present invention, except by complete' distillation.One of theobjects of the invention is" to provide for an effectiveseparation of con taminating solids which may be suspended in the oilsto be treated, such solids including among other things the fine carbonparticles,'j the gummy or rosin constituents, and the like.

A further object is to provide for the bleachject-ed to the so-calledacid treatment.

claims.

which constitutes the invention, the oil to be treated is subjected tothe action of finely powdered calcium sulphate brought into contact withthe oil in suitable manner. The oil'Tkfine, carbon particles whichcannot ordinarily fbe're lnov ed exceptby'distillation, and apparentlycauses them to assume a condition "which permits ready removal thereofby lilis preferably heated to carry off any volatile constituents suchas gasoline in used crank-1 case oil, and the calcium sulphate may be deposited therein and allowed to settle without permitting any substantialreduction in the oil temperature, or if desired the volatile conciumsulphate may be deposited into the oil: being treated, the amountdepending upon the volume of oil to be acted upon, for in-, The instant]stance, used crank case oils. that calcium sulphate is deposited intothe oil, its weight slowly carries it to the bottom,

and during this settling it appears to attract the mechanicallysuspended solids carried by METHOD oE rrnEn'iino OILS TO REMOVE,snsrENnEn IMPURITIES ,eii icatitnf ned october s, 1328.1 Seria1:Nof311,239. 1

, phate to be used'is therefore dependent largely upon the condition ofthe oil, but no more is required thanthat which insures completeprecipitation, anefiect which is quickly visible to the nakedeye,although an excess of the calcium sulphate does no damage. ,That is,no fixed specific quantity of calcium sulphate may be stated in advance,the selection being more or less empirical, exceptthat 'suflicientquantities are added from time to time until complete precipitation isobtained. After complete precipitation of, the impurities has "beenobtainedfthe purified oil maybe de- 1-1 canted, filtered or separatedfrom the mixture ,ofthedeposite'd substances and'the calcium sulphate inany desired or well known man- I ner.s-"-- In lieu of depositing'thecalcium sulphate 7 into, the "oil asabove'described, the contamiing ofoils which have been previously sub-1) nated oil m'aiy be; filteredthrough a bed con- 7 f taining calcium sulphate, the effect of which IThe invention will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularlypointed out in the appearstoiresult in, anattraction of the impuritiesbyJth-e calcium sulphate, and a. separation from the oil at the sametime.

Usedcr'ank case oils, cylinder oils, etc, and

other contaminated oils are quickly purified by the'meth d abovedescribed. The calcium sulphate-appears to have an affinity forthetration. In other words, the suspended solids notonly seem to be.attracted to the calcium sulphate but they also appear to be attractedto each other to produce small .ma sses which are'readily visible to thenaked eye. Gummy substances or TOS1I1$ WlllCh are often suspendedfinoils are also similarly precipitated. It is to be understood, however,

that just what takes place is not precisely known,iexcept that some kindof-a change loclcurs' inthe condltion of the suspended 1mpur'ities uponbringing the calcium sulphate in contact therewith. Water or aqueous va1 por whichis often found in usedcrank case on apparently combines witha portion ofthe calcium sulphate, but this reaction apparently does notinterfere in any manner with the other functions of the calcium sulphateIt has also been found that calcium sulphate will also bleach oil whichhas been subjected to what is known as the acid treatment. Thistreatment consists of subjecting oil to the action ofsulphuric acid,andas is well known, it is almost impossible to pre vent burning the oilduring this treatment.

The solid particles burned oil remain'in sus-.

pension and naturally discolor the 'finished sum, the invention is notlimited in this particular becauseothercalcareous cements may beemployedv in lieu thereof, such as' natural cement, Portland cement, andthe like Therefore, whereverthe term calcium sulphate is used in thisspecification and theappended claims. it is to be understood th-atthe 2.The method of treating oils to remove solids which are mechanicallysuspended therein comprising precipitating said solids by depositingcalcium sulphate into a body 'offoiland'allovving thesame to stand untilthe calcium sulphate and precipitated impurities haveseparated from theoil, the proportion of calciumsul hate required to clarify the oilbeingdetermined by' the extent of precipitation of the"s'ol'ids as thecalcium sulphate is deposited into the oil, and finally separatings'aid" solids "maths oil.

3, The methodof treating oils to remove solids which are mechanicallysuspended thereincomprising bringing the oil into contact With'gypsumunassociated with other materials so'as to attract the suspended solidparticles andrender them readily separable fromg'the oil theproportionof gypsum re;

itheexte'nt ptprecipitationof the solids as the oil vand,fgypsuIn arebrought into contact, and finally I lter'ing the oil to separate saidsolids e qm a Q In testimony whereof have hereunto set" r v I I, i I. VV v v "HENRY H; MORETON.

above mentioned substances are to 'be considered as equivalents thereofand within the spirit of the invention. It'is also to be understood thatalthough used crankcase oil has been described in a specific example-ofthe methpd here involved,'the invention is not limited thereto,ibut isapplicable' to all kinds of oil, whether used or unused, in which finely"divided impurities are held' in 'suspension. r

The advantages of the invention will be readily understood by" thoseskilled the art of purifying'oils. most important advantage is that bytheme of calcium sulphate the impurities may be removed by a: very,simple and inexpensive method, resulting in I the production of anexceedingly hi'ghhjgra'de 'quired toclariiylthe'oil being determined byof oil, Without any substantial loss in' bulk and without adverselyaflecting its viscosity.

Having thus explained the nature "of the,

invention anddescribedanbperative manner of constructing and usingthesame, although without attempting to set forth' all of the forms inwhich it may be'made, or *all of-the forms of its use, what is claimedis 2- l. Themethod of treating oils-to remove Z solids which aremechanically suspended thereincomprising bringing the oil into contactwith calclum sulphate unassociated With other materials, so'astoattractthe suspended particles andrender'them readily separable fromtheoil, the proportion of calcium sulphaterequiredtoclarify said oilfbeing,de termined by the extent ofpre'cipitationot the. solids, as theoiland calcium sulphate are brought into contact, and finally separatingsaid solids from the oil.

